Warner Bros. shocked the world with the announcement that its entire 2021 slate will follow Wonder Woman 1984 by being released in theaters and on HBO Max at the same time.
While that was initially viewed as a sign of things to come in the film industry next year, the news has been met with an overwhelmingly negative response by filmmakers and confusion from many other people. After all, a vaccine is on the horizon, and life could soon begin to return to normal.
Regardless, The Hollywood Reporter reveals that WarnerMedia insiders are hoping that Disney will follow its lead and shift its own 2021 slate to Disney+. In fact, there's speculation that the news could be announced as soon as this Thursday during an investor call the studio is holding; however, it doesn't look like that's going to happen.
"Disney, which had seven billion-dollar-grossing movies last year, isn’t about to do that. Instead, it is moving some films to streaming, as it did with Hamilton and Artemis Fowl — likely Cruella and more — but an agent notes that the way Disney has handled the shift stands in stark contrast to what Warners has done," the trade explains.
Another big difference is that Disney+ is way ahead of HBO Max in terms of subscribers, with The Mandalorian alone emerging as a huge draw. Disney relies heavily on opening weekends, not to mention the merchandise sales and theme park attractions its films create over an extended period of time.
Some big movies are clearly set to arrive on Disney+ next year, but anyone hoping to watch Black Widow either in their home or theaters during opening weekend may be disappointed.
Click on the "Next" button below to see which events
could be adapted in the MCU in Phase 4 and beyond!
10. Marvel Zombies
The Walking Dead went a long way in helping to make zombies cool again, and Army of the Dead will hopefully prove that a well-made zombie movie can also find success. However, what if you mixed that genre with the superhero one? That’s where Marvel Zombies come in, the brilliant event series written by, you guessed it, The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman.
Set in an alternate version of the Marvel Universe, the heroes who live there are all infected by the zombie virus (but retain their personalities and intelligence) and go about devouring everyone and everything. In Spider-Man’s case, that includes his beloved Aunt May and Mary Jane.
There are some great moments of drama and comedy in this one, while the fact that a small band of non-infected heroes attempt to fight back gives this one an interesting twist. The concept is likely to be explored in What If?, so could then be expanded on in live-action.
9. Siege
After one heroic act puts Norman Osborn in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. (now renamed H.A.M.M.E.R.), he goes about reshaping the world in his image and assembles a team of Dark Avengers.
The former Green Goblin even suits up as the Iron Patriot, and in one final bid to cement his power as Earth’s Mightiest Heroes begin to fight back, he launches a devastating attack on Thor’s home of Asgard. Grounding the action for this sort of tale in a future Avengers movie would make for a nice change of pace even if some key characters would have to be changed.
While this series was a little hit-and-miss, it had some iconic and amazing moments which would translate perfectly to the big screen, and Spider-Man should definitely take centre stage.
8. Secret Empire
This would be difficult to pull off without Chris Evans playing Captain America, but perhaps the actor could reprise the role as an alternate version of Steve Rogers? With Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness exploring alternate realities, this really wouldn't be that hard to pull off.
The concept of an "evil" Cap is a fun one, and this Steve could even pose as the one who travelled back in time and returned to the present as an old man. Sure, this would mean losing the concept of Captain America being undercover, but that proved to be more frustrating than anything else.
Despite not being a fan-favourite event by any means, there's definitely potential for this on screen, and it could lead to some noteworthy, game-changing changes to the MCU down the line.
7. Annihilation
Had this event never happened, then we may never have seen James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Annihilation reignited the cosmic side of the Marvel Universe and rebooted the Guardians – this version of the team actually consisted of the same roster as the movie – to much success.
Earth doesn’t factor into this story at all (there’s no sign of the Avengers or X-Men), with the likes of Nova and Quasar instead getting the chance to shine as they take on a Universe ending threat which consisted of the Annihilation Wave, a large armada of warships, under the control of classic Fantastic Four villain Annihilus (who is now part of the Marvel Studios family).
This would be the perfect direction to take the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise in, and could even result in a number of spin-off movies being launched to expand the MCU's cosmic side.
6. House Of M
If Marvel Studios is looking for a way to introduce the X-Men in a big, game-changing way, then a House of M adaptation that reshaped this shared world for a time would definitely work.
Manipulated by her brother, the Scarlet Witch uses her reality altering powers to reshape the world into one where mutants are the majority and rule over the planet. However, there are some who realise things aren't right, so they embark on a quest to restore things to how they used to be.
This poses something of a moral quandary for the X-Men; do they really want to go back to a world where they are feared and hated or stay in one where Magneto rules over the world with an iron fist?
5. Avengers Vs. X-Men
Honestly, this event kind of sucked, but the concept was a strong one, and seeing Earth's Mightiest Heroes battle the X-Men led to a lot of great fights we would kill to see in a live-action setting.
In the source material, when Earth’s Mightiest Heroes interfere in the affairs of the mutant team, they fracture the Phoenix Force, leaving Cyclops, Emma Frost, Colossus, Magik, and Namor possessed by the cosmic entity. Under its sinister influence, the X-Men go about reshaping the Earth in their image with disastrous consequences.
This of course pits the two factions against one another and really shakes things up for the status quo of the mutants with Cyclops behind bars – for a short time at least – and Charles Xavier killed off for good. There are elements which should be borrowed from this, but a straightforward adaptation might not be the best idea.
4. Secret Invasion
It was a great shame that Captain Marvel didn't set the stage for this story, but rumour has it the sequel will lay the groundwork for a Secret Invasion adaptation either on the big screen or Disney+.
The shape shifting Skrulls spent a number of years quietly replacing key members of the superhero community, carefully manipulating events around them to then make their invasion of Earth all the easier. That resulted in the Avengers being unable to trust each other, and seeing both that and them battling versions of themselves would make for a really fun adventure.
There are any number of characters who could be outed as a Skrull, and if Marvel Studios handles this the right way, it's a story which has the potential to play out on screen for a number of years.
3. War Of The Realms
Thor: Love and Thunder is going to introduce the female version of the God of Thunder, and if we're lucky, Taika Waititi will set the stage for this massive event to play out in the not too distant future.
With all Nine Realms under attack from the sinister Malekith (who might need to be recast or replaced here), Earth's Mightiest Heroes join Thor (and Thor) in her battle against his Dark Elves, not to mention the likes of Dario Agger, Frost Giants, and various other Asgardian baddies.
"War of the Realms" was an exciting, epic, action-packed story, and could even lead to a permanent passing of the mantle as Jane Foster becomes the MCU's permanent Thunder God.
2. World War Hulk
In the comics, Iron Man and an "Illuminati" of some of the Marvel Universe’s most intelligent heroes (including the likes of Black Bolt, Doctor Strange, and Mister Fantastic) decide that the best way to protect the Earth is to send the Hulk into outer space.
After arriving on a distant planet, the Green Goliath is forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena, but eventually escapes and finds love...until the capsule he was sent in explodes and kills her. It’s then that the Hulk returns to Earth with an army to declare war on the heroes he holds responsible.
Taking them down one by one, only the super powered Sentry can stop the Green Goliath, and it would be epic to see this story play out on the big screen. It might take some time to build to this one, and some changes would probably have to be made, but this would be nothing short of epic.
1. Secret Wars
In 1984, Marvel decided they needed to sell more toys, so they launched an event called Secret Wars which saw just about every Marvel character thrown into the same series.
The premise? When an ancient cosmic being known as the Beyonder abducted heroes and villains from Earth, he forced them to fight each other in what was essentially one big battle royal! Of course, the appeal of seeing hero on hero or villain on villain battles was huge, and with the Russo Brothers keen to make it a reality, it would be crazy for Marvel Studios not to make this.
This event saw the introduction of many characters who went on to play a significant role in the Marvel Universe, and this could be an awesome place to put the spotlight on the X-Men and Fantastic Four.